Photo: FormalDude · CC BY-SA 4.0Eureka’s household incomes are higher than in 83% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Eureka is better than 82% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (C). 7.9% of residents live below the poverty line; Missouri has 12.6%. About one in ten stay in Eureka for work; outside it, St. Louis is the main destination (14%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Eureka in brief
Eureka trades workers with the towns around it
Eureka has about as many jobs (5,558) as working residents (5,046), but they are mostly different people: 4,623 residents leave for work each day while 5,135 people come in. Only 8% of the jobs in Eureka are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Eureka draws workers from far and wide
The 5,558 jobs in Eureka are filled from a wide area. Eureka’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 20%; the other 72% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Eureka’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Eureka is St. Louis, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (714) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Eureka’s grade explained
Household income is its strongest input ($108,394, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Eureka could be anywhere from B to A+.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 4,623 residents head out to work, 423 work right here, and 5,135 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.10 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Eureka ends
Where Eureka clocks in
14% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where in the region Eureka works
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What work there is in Eureka: 5,558 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eureka, 2013 → 2023: 4,255 → 5,558. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Eureka’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 27 minutes from Eureka
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eureka workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,074 commuters (the 18% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Most of Eureka commutes by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.2% across Missouri.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,184 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.9% of Eureka households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Eureka’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000, Eureka ranks 706th of 2,526 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Dardenne Prairie MO | 15,032 | $153K | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 704 | Brandywine MD | 12,160 | $158K | 6.2% | 5.6% | 2% | A− |
| 705 | Gardendale AL | 16,425 | $82K | 4.3% | 3.4% | 5% | A− |
| 706 | Eureka MO | 13,422 | $108K | 7.9% | 3.4% | 8% | A− |
| 707 | Lincoln Park NJ | 10,950 | $123K | 2.9% | 10.1% | 7% | A− |
| 708 | Picnic Point WA | 10,261 | $130K | 7.2% | 4.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Eureka, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Around Eureka: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Wildwood (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Eureka’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Eureka: questions
What is the median household income in Eureka?
$108,394 (±$6,090) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eureka?
7.9%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eureka?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Eureka work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (14%, 24 mi), Chesterfield (8%, 12 mi), Maryland Heights (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Eureka walkable?
Eureka is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Eureka without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Eureka, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eureka
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.